We are the Rossis
by EvilRegal10
Summary: Here's a collection of One Shots about Erin and David Rossi going through the ups and downs of life with their five children: Aaron, Emily, Penelope, JJ and Spencer. How will they cope with the bad moments? Will they enjoy the good ones or they'll take them for granted? Who will they meet in their journey and how will they change their lives?
1. Sisterly love

"I'LL KILL YOU" that's the first thing David Rossi heard when he came back home after a way too long case.

 _Awesome_ he thought and put down his keys, debeting if it was a good idea to walk further in the house and face whatever war his children were fighting or run away and never look back.

"JJ I SWEAR TO GOD, I'LL BEAT THE BLONDE OUT OF YOU IF YOU DON'T GIVE IT BACK"

That's it.  
That was what screamed "You can't run, get in there and kill them all".  
He chuckled.

"Emily, I don't want to hear you say something like that ever again. And calm down, go to your room, get it together and come back down when the demon has vanished and my sweet, lovely daughter has reappeared" he walked towards the living room where he knew the commotion was and heard his wife's voice.

He opened the double doors and saw a nine year old JJ hiding behind her mother and a very angry Emily in front of them, ready to tear the little girl apart.

"Oh so I'm the demon and I have to go to my room while she's the angel who gets away with it! GREAT!" she turned on her heels and ran to her room past her father, without even welcoming him back.

"DADDY!" the blonde girl, on the other hand, emerged from behind her mother and ran into his arms. David smiled and picked her up "Hello princess" he kissed her cheek and high fived her "Good job on surviving that squirt"

"Not so fast young lady" JJ hid her face in her father's neck.  
She knew she was wrong and had done something bad but she had hoped that with her father being back, her mom would forget to scold her.  
But she didn't.

JJ watched her mother walk up to them with her hand stretched out "Give it back and go to your room. This is your last call, next time there will be consequences" David put her down while the little girl complained "I only wanted to play!"

"Then you ask" the blonde mother bent down to the little girl's level and made sure she knew that what she had done wasn't right "Now, you head me. Go to your room"

JJ turned around and walked away, stomping her feet.

"Don't stomp your feet, young lady"  
She stopped immediately making her father chuckle.

"That's not funny!" Erin shoved him in the chest before rubbing her temples. It only made him chuckle more but before she could react to that once more, he grabbed her hands and pulled her in his hold. Her arms immediately wrapped around his waist and her head rested on his chest while she closed her eyes to try to relax and she had to admit that whenever he held her like that, she would feel much better. It had been one hell of a day and those two fighting made it ten thousand times worse.

"Oh I know it isn't. That's why when I came back I had to think twice before coming in. I was about to run away and never come back" she giggled and pulled away, giving him another playful slap.

"Where's the rest of the gang?" David asked after kissing his wife's head.

"Would I be a terrible mother if I said that I have no idea?"

David burst out lauhing "Depends on why"

"I had literally just come back when I realized there were high chances I would be down a child so I didn't have the time to check on everyone else"

"GET THE HELL OUT JJ!" their conversation was interrupted by another one of Emily's screams.

Both Erin and David looked up and sighed.  
The blonde smiled at her husband "Welcome home daddy"

David chuckled and finally kissed her "You check on in with everyone else and I start on dinner?" he asked and she nodded, giving him one last peck on the lips before pulling definitely away and going parted ways.

* * *

"Mommy!" Erin's heart burst with joy when his youngest's face lit up at she sight of her.  
She kneeled down and caught him in her arms when he ran to her "Hello my sweet baby boy" she kissed his head "Did you miss me?" she asked and he nodded energically "I missed you too" she smothered his face with kisses simply because she could.  
He was only four years old so he still loved mommy's cuddles.  
JJ, being nine, did too. But not that much.

"Did you have fun at preschool?"

Spencer shook his head "No?" Erin looked surprised "It's boring" okay, now not so much.

"They only color stuff and no one can read so I can't talk about books with anyone" he said and Erin sighed. She and David were going to have to have a talk about Spencer sooner rather than later. He was obviously smarter than the average four year old kids.  
He wasn't interested or stimulated by the preschool programs and needed something more suited for him because there was no point in keeping him there. It wasn't doing him any good.

She made a mental note to talk about with David later. For now she picked Spencer on her hip and walked out of his room "Let's go see what your brother and sisters are up to".

She knocked on the door next to Spencer's "Come in"

"Hi sweetie" Erin smiled and met her daughter's smile "Hi mom!" she beamed and ran to hug her. Penelope was the sweetest girl Erin had ever met.  
So genuine and loving.  
"What are you doing?" she asked "Oh, I was playing some games with my friends on the computer" Erin smiled at Penelope's excitment.

"Don't take too long, dinner is almost ready"

"Dad is back?" Her eyes lit up and Erin smiled, nodding. The blonde squealed and ran to the door "I WANNA GO SEE DADDY TOO!" Spencer wiggled in her mother's arms and she put him down.  
The little boy ran behind his sister to go downstais and meet their dad, who they hadn't see in four days.

Erin went to the next door and saw that it was empty. Perfectly neat and clean but empty.

 _Of course_ she thought and went to Emily's room.

"Go away"

"Come in" they said in unison and Erin, as much as she was mad at Emily, smiled and opened the door.  
And here they were.

Her beautiful, adorable different in everything and anything twins.  
Even their rooms were opposites.  
Aaron's was perfect and tidy.  
Emily's looked like a bomb had exploded.

"Is it safe?"

"No, you'll catch fire as soon as you step in"

"Cut the attitue young lady, or you'll be the one catching fire" she walked in and kissed Aaron's cheek "Hi mom"

"Hi Aaron"

"Yes hi traitor" Emily glared at her twin brother "Ohhh! She's angry" Erin exclaimed and Aaron laughed when their mom started tickling his sister.

"Mom stop!" she tried not to laugh and to push her away.

"Nha I don't think so" she laughed

"Mom- seriously stop!" she failed to hide the smile.

"SHE SMILED! SHE SMILED!" Erin screamed and took the opportunity to widen the crack in Emily's current wall. Emily tried her best to keep her mother's hands away from her sides but when Aaron held her arms to help their mom, she knew she was screwed and soon enough she fell in a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

"OKAY OKAY" she was out of breath "I SURRENDER"

"What? Did you say something? I didn't hear any-"

"I SURRENDER! MOM PLEASE I'M GONNA PEE" Emily had tears in her eyes and her legs bent to her chest while she tried to push her mother's off her.  
Erin held up her arms and got off her daughter to sit next to her while she pulled up.  
Aaron smiled when his mother hugged Emily to the side and kissed her head and Emily actually let her.

"Emily, I know she annoys you sometimes but she's only nine-"

"Mom don't please"

"I'm just saying that she looks up to you and sometimes thinks that sneaking behind your back is easier than actually talking to you because you're always on edge. And you're sixteen and hormones-"

"AH I'M OUT" Aaron covered his ears and ran away. Both women chuckled at his antics. He had a twin sister but talking about how her body functioned or what it was going through creeped him out.

"As I was saying, your hormones all over the place but she doesn't understand that. She doesn't understand why her big sister yells at her for no reason and why she shuts the door in her face. She wanted to play and thought that stealing your phone was the only way because she doesn't know how to talk to you"

Emily bit her lip and looked down.  
She knew she took it out on JJ the most. Mostly because Penelope minded her business and was all the time on her computer and Spencer was too little to get on her nerves to that point. Aaron knew how to deal with her and how to take her blows and put her back in her place.

"Did she come up to give you the phone back?" Erin asked and Emily nodded her head.  
"What do you say if you go get her? Your dad is making dinner and I think you've got a couple of minutes before it's ready" she checked her watch and Emily sighed before nodding.

"Alright. I'll see you downstairs" she kissed her once more and then got off the bed to leave "Oh, I also don't know what to think of the fact that your siblings became totally unfazed by you two fighting. Spencer used to cry and scream. Now he acts like it's nothing"

Emily chuckled and watched her mother leave with a sweet and encouraging smile.

She got out of her room and went to the door next to hers. Once she was in front of it, she took a deep breath and knocked on it.

"Go away" she heard her sister's small, angry and sad voice.

"JJ, it's me"

"Go away even more" at that, Emily couldn't help but smile. She was a fierce one, her little sister and she admired her a lot even if she never really said that. Plus they were a lot alike and that's probably why they fought so much.

"I come in peace, I promise" she hoped her voice sounded calm and nice enough to make her sister open the door.  
She sighed in defeat when she heard nothing but silence but then she heard a lot of shuffling and moving noises before the door actually opened and her sister appeared behind it.

"What do you want?" she asked, not letting her in.

"Wow squirt, you built a secure system or something there"

JJ didn't say anything and Emily smiled sadly at her "May I come in?" she tried again, leaving the sarcasm to the side for a moment.  
The blonde girl sighed and opened the door.  
Emily walked in and sat on the bed, even if her sister went to the other side of the room where she resumed playing with a dollhouse.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you" Emily started

"And chasing you all over the house" she continued

"And yelling at you again"

Silence

"And also for kicking you out" Emily chuckled darkly because Jesus, she was a monster.

JJ shrugged.

"Look JJ, I really am sorry"

JJ put down her dolls and then Emily's hear broke when she heard her little broken voice "You always yell at me" she said "Do you hate me?"  
Emily was to her side in less than half a second "Oh no JJ! Of course I don't hate you" she wanted to slap herself for making her sister think she hated her and for making those beautiful blue eyes cry "I'm sorry I'm mean sometimes. Well, almost every time but- I could never hate you. You're my little sister"

"You don't yell at Penelope and Spencer. Or Aaron. Do you love them more?"

Emily wanted to cry.  
She had really messed up.

"No I-" what could she ever tell her? A stupid fight had turned in pure heartbreak for the both of them.

"I love you to the moon and back JJ and I'm sorry I yell. I really am. I guess I don't scream at them like I do you because you and I are really alike and you know what they say?"

She shook her head.

"They say that when two people are too much alike, it's a lot easier that they fight" that stole a small smile.

"But that doesn't mean that I hate you or I love you less. And it never ever will"

"You pomise?" JJ looked at her and Emily smiled, holding out her pinky finger "I pinky promise and cross my heart" she whispered.  
JJ's face broke in a beaming smile and she wrapped her smaller pinky around her sister's.

"But do you promise that you'll ask before taking my things?"

"I promise" she said "And I'm sorry I took your phone"

Emily hugged her sister "It's alright squirt"

* * *

"Looks like Cain and Abel made up" David announced when Emily and JJ walked in the kitchen hand in hand. JJ looked confused but left Emily's hand to join Penelope and Aaron, Erin hit him playfully on the shoulder and Emily stuck her tongue at him before walking to him and kissing his cheek "Sorry about not saying hi before"

"It's alright gattina" She smiled at the nickname and asked if he needed help.

"For the love of God no, get out of my kitchen"

"You know dad, I could actually be able to do something if you taught me!" she laughed

"You'll just burn the whole house down" Aaron stole a piece of carrots and Emily gave him a slap behind his neck "Ouch Em"

"You deserved it"

"Did not"

"Did too"

"Stop"

"You stop"

"You'll end up in a juvenile insitute if you don't stop fighting"

"You started it"

"You hit me"

"You made fun of me when you can't cook either and you're possibly worse than me"

"I don't kill people as a hobby"

"Haven't killed anyone"

"Yet"

"Dad, make him stop"

"Son, don't wake the sleeping dragon"

"Dragon Emily doesn't know how to sleep"

"Aaron don't provoke her"

"See? Mom's on my side"

"Emily, don't make him provoke you"

"Mom!"

"Help the others set the table"

Aaron and Emily did what they were told and went to help their younger siblings set the table.  
When Erin watched her kids happily chat while they set the table she couldn't help but smile and feel heart heart fill with love and happiness.

Their house was a mad house. It was pure craziness under any aspect you could come up with because they worked crazy jobs with crazy hours and had five kids, all different, all with explosive characters in their own ways and all with their own particular and sometimes too short temper.  
She blamed her italian husband for that last one, and speaking of him, she turned to the side and smiled when she saw him cook.

She walked to him and kissed him, for no special reason.

"I love you" she said "And I love our crazy, impossible and soul sucking kids" they chuckled.  
"They take their temper from you, cara"

Erin laughed "Funny, I always say they take it from you"

"Impossible. You're so much more stubborn than me"

"What? Have you ever heard yourself in an argument?"

"No, because your screaming makes it impossible"

Erin gasped and laughed "I don't scream!" she exclaimed.  
David burst out laughing "You so do" he pulled her into him but she fought him off "No!" she laughed "Stop! David, let me go!" she exclaimed but eventually gave up, settling against his side and letting him kiss her.

"Ewwww, is the food going to be as disgusting as you two are being right now? Like, you've infected it or something" Emily made a face when she entered in the room with Spencer on her hip. Penelope stood next to her and Aaron was giving JJ a piggy-back ride.

"Oh Emily, stop it. They're in love!" Penelope was such a romantic soul. Sometimes Emily was jealous of her but other times, like when the walked in on their parents making out, she simply didn't understand.

"I'M WITH PENNY" JJ exclaimed jumping up and down on her brother's back "JJ! My back"

"All over our food!" Emily argued.

"I'M WITH EMILY!" Aaron added.

"Hey, sassy pants!" David exclaimed pointing at her with his wooden spoon "You wouldn't even be here in the first place if it wasn't for us"

"DAD!" Emily exclaimed and covered Spencer's ears "COULD YOU PLEASE NOT!"  
David laughed and Erin rolled her eyes at her fifth kid "Okay everyone, come get your plates"

The kids followed their mother's order while David and Emily kept bickering.

Sitting at the table, watching her family, her beloved kids all with smiles on their faces and listening to their stories and whatever they needed to say or came up with, it really made feel Erin blessed.

They were the Rossi's.  
One big, happy, crazy family.


	2. Penny still hasn't answered my question

House was quite and almost empty.

Penelope and Aaron were the quietest ones so the fact that they were both home didn't affect him at all.

He could sit on the couch, enjoy a good beer while watching some TV and feel like a vegetable without having to put up with Emily and JJ's fights, that hadn't stopped after that last huge one.

Maybe the fact that they talked and made sure they love each other only made it worse because now they were free to fight with no reservations and strong of the fact that no matter what they said, they loved each other.

Spencer had his moments too.

Like when he wanted to watch documentaries and would frown and pout until he won.

Or like when he had just finished a book and wanted to tell you all about it.

Or like when he'd ask a million questions without even waiting for the answers.

Penelope and Aaron were quiet.

And right now they were upstairs while Erin was out with the other three.

David was free to have an afternoon to himself. Or at least that's what he thought.

He was watching sports when a high pitched scream reached his ears.

Now, being the FBI agent he was, he was immediately alerted and ran immediately upstairs, locating the scream in the girls bathroom.

"AHHHHHHHHH" his heart pounded in his chest and he didn't think about it twice.

Without flinching he kicked the door open. There was no way this son of a bitch was going to hurt his family.

Especially not in his home while he was there.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" that's all he was met with when the door opened.

Aaron, worried as well, had appeared by his side in a matter of seconds.

Both father and son looked horrified when they realized there was no thief or serial killer but it was only Penelope screaming from the toilet.

"GET. OUT!" She screamed once more and, mortified, the two men turned around immediately, trying to give her some sort of privacy and hurried out.

"OH MY GOD!" Penelope cried "WHERE'S MOM?"

"She's -Uhm out. Are you okay?" What the hell was he supposed to say?

"GET HER!"

"Penny I can't-"

"GO AWAY!" She screamed. Embarassed and angry.

Thirty minutes later David heard the keys turn in the lock and ran to the door "THANK GOD YOU'RE BACK" Erin was immediately worried "What happened?"

"I don't know! She didn't say anything! She screamed and I ran and she- she wanted you"

"Dad, calm down and explain what happened. Like, for real" Emily sounded equally worried.

"She screamed and I thought someone was in the house so I ran and she was in the bathroom and she screamed again when I walked in-"

"Wait wait, you walked in the bathroom?"

David ignored his wife's question and went on "and she said she wanted you and screamed again when I said I couldn't get you and she just cried and she's been locked in her room for half an hour. Aaron was there too and he tried to talk to her but she keeps crying and asking for you and oh my god never leave me alone again" he held Erin's shoulders like his life depended on it.

Erin chuckled and patted his back "It's okay honey. You're okay"

"Dad, you screwed up royally" Emily giggled.

"I don't understand why!"

"Dave honey..."

Emily, by now, was laughing uncontrollably and patted her little sister's back "Maybe you'll be the time he gets it right"

JJ looked as confused as her father until her father didn't anymore.

"Oh..." it seemed to sink in.

Erin chuckled "Yeah...she's twelve honey. You can't just barge in the bathroom like that"

"I would give a kidney to go back in time and get to be there" the brunette started laughing again and Erin rolled her eyes at her.

"I'll go check on her"

"I'm coming with you" Emily followed her mother "Dad if you're lucky she'll talk to you again by the time she gets married"

"Emily if you're lucky you'll get to live until that day" that got Emily to laugh even more.

"I'm going to see if Aaron is still alive" Emily and Erin went to different doors and while Emily burst in without knocking, Erin stopped in front of Penelope's door and waited for her to let her in after a soft knock.

"Unless you're mom, go away"

Erin opened the door and peaked in "I'm mom" the blonde girl ran in her arms and cried on her mother shoulder.

Erin walked in the room while still holding her baby girl and laid on the bed with her in her arms, stroking her hair and back "It's okay baby" she comforted her while she hid in her neck.

"It sucks"

"It does but it's how it is and it's not that terrible. You'll get used to it and I promise dad-"

"YEAH DAD! WHAT THE HELL WAS HE THINKING!? BARGING IN HE BATHROOM LIKE THAT!" She shot up

"Honey you screamed, he thought something was wrong. Don't give him too much of a hard time. Emily is already, plus he had been clueless until we told him"

"HEY SIS!" Emily walked in just like she has done only moments before with her brother.

"You're not mom. You're not allowed in" Penelope stated but her sister was already making herself comfortable on the bed.

"I might not be mom but I happen to be your older sister who already went through all of that. Including embarrassing dad"

"Yeah?"

Erin laughed, thinking of the day Emily had told her she had her first period.

That was a first for the both of them.

David too.

Emily managed to make Penelope laugh telling her the story of how she had gotten the bed dirty and their father thought she was dying.

"So mom's away for work and I'm a lot younger than you. I was only 10"

"WHAT?"

"Yeah...lucky me. So what happens basically is that mom is out of state for I don't know what and I'm alone with dad and dumb Aaron. Jeez he's so dumb"

Erin let it pass this time.

"So what happens is that I was sleeping and Aaron comes in the room and sees blood on the sheets. He runs to dad screaming that I was dying because he's a clueless ten year old boy. Dad comes right in and like I don't have any clue of what is happening. I just find myself swept in his arms and he's running out of the house and towards the car all worried and scared while Aaron stays in with you. Yes you were in the story too"

Penelope smiles from her mother's chest.

"So I'm like 'what the hell-"

"Emily language"

Emily rolled her eyes

"Don't roll your eyes at me!"

Penelope chuckled and Emily scoffed "MOM! You're ruining the moment here!"

The blonde sighed and kept stroking Penelope's back.

"So I'm wondering what my surroundings are and why I'm being transported by my father in his autoveicle to go to a place unknown to me"

"My sweet, sarcastic daughter"

Emily laughed "Anyways, he goes like 'Honey it's alright don't worry. It'll be fine. You're okay' "

"And I'm like 'yeah...I know' and he looks confused for a moment there and then says that I was bleeding and that I was hurt but I was shocked because I knew I wasn't hurt. So it hit him and he looked completely embarrassed and shocked. I had no idea what was happening but apparently I was bleeding but had no idea from where! So I kinda got scared but deep down I just felt it that it was going to be something incredibly awkward. So dad drives us back home, because he was taking me to the freaking hospital and I didn't know what to do because I still didn't know what the hell was happening and all of a sudden dad asks me to lie to mom! He goes like ' don't tell your mom I almost took you to the hospital' and then he called her and just told her that I'd had my first period and that he hated her for leaving him alone. Then he handed me the phone and mom explained what I needed to do while she tried not to cry. And a couple of days later mom and I looked exactly like you two right now. Except she was crying too. Fore some reason still unknown to me since I was the one whose guts were shreding apart"

"Emily."

"Anyways. We still lived happily ever after Pen. You'll be fine"

Penelope laughed uncontrollably "Aboud Dad...he's just clueless because to men it doesn't exist like they don't think about it. To us it's obvious so forgive him, Pen. I did. You can too"

"You're such a drama queen Em"

"Still queen though"

Erin laughed and poked her in the stomach "Mom don't"

"I won't, don't worry. I'm too busy cuddling my sweet, adorable little girl"

Emily caughed "Not so little" another caugh and also a kick from her sister

"Hey! I thought we were against violence in this house"

"Said mother Teresa"

"Mommy!" They all turned to the side where JJ was standing in the doorway with a cup of what Erin assumed was tea in her hand and Spencer to her side "Daddy told me to bring this up"

Erin smiled because David was the sweetest man on Earth and she and her children were so lucky to have him.

"Come here " JJ and Spencer walked in the room and Erin took the cup from her hand, telling Penelope to sit up and then scooping Spencer up and sitting him on her legs while JJ climbed on the bed and settled in Emily's arms.

"Drink it, it'll make you feel better"

"You're sad?" JJ asked her sister

"A little"

"Aw I'm sorry Penny! Is it because you got your periods?" Spencer chimed in.

Penelope choked on her the tea and Erin's eyes almost fell out "How do you know that baby?"

"I heard Emily say it over the phone and I asked her and she told me that it's when a girl grows up and she bleeds a little and it can hurt and make you sad"

Emily smiled and held up her fist "Hit me buddy" Spencer hit her sister's fist with his, smiling at his sister's pride.

"EMILY!" Erin scolded her impossible to say the least daughter.

"What?"

"He's too young!"

"He's too young to know about periods but not too young to know all the elements of the periodic table? Come on Mom! He asked and we both know he wouldn't have been happy with the answers until he got the truth plus it's not the most traumatic and grown up thing he knows. Chill"

Erin sighed and kissed Spencer's head.

She wished she could keep him a baby forever and deep down she knew in some ways he already wasn't anymore.

Every thing he learnt took a piece of his innocence away and some of the things he learned couldn't be avoided. She knew Emily was right but it didn't change the fact that she was worried about the fact that all this knowledge would eventually hurt her bright and sweet boy.

"Mommy, it's fine. He'll be alright" Penelope noticed the look of worry in her mother's eyes and she knew it was more than periods.

"Of course he will" Emily exclaimed taking him from her mother's hold and then laying back and bending her legs to her toso so that she could lift him in the hair and support him with her knees.

"I'm IRON MAN" he exclaimed from where he was flying with the help of Emily and everyone laughed.

Erin felt her heart at peace once more knowing that as long as they all had each other, they'd be fine.

"I want to fly too!" JJ protested and Emily gently put Spencer down to pick her sister up.

She was older so she lifted her even higher, holding her up with her feet instead of knees.

"LOOK MOM!" She laughed "IT'S SUPER HIGH"

Erin couldn't help but think that this was going to finally be the time Emily killed JJ but then she looked at both of their faces and the smiled on them and at how tight Emily was holding her little sister to make sure she didn't fall and her heart filled with pride and joy for the love she knew ran between all of them.

She cast one last glance at Penelope and then noticed that Spencer was intently studying her.

"What is it pretty boy?" Penelope asked and Erin watched the two interact while with the corner of her eye she saw Emily lower JJ back on the bed and a weight was lifted off her chest.

"I was thinking that Emmy didn't tell me where the blood comes from. Where is your blood coming from Penny?"

All three women looked shocked.

"OKAY!" Erin exclaimed and got up immediately "Who wants chocolate chip cookies?"

Spencer forgot all about the blood and chanted that he did! He wanted chocolate chip cookies.

Erin sighed a breath of relief and picked the little boy up to set him on her hip "Let's go"

"HEY I WANT COOKIES TOO" JJ exclaimed from where she was on the bed and Erin turned around and stretched out her free hand for her to take "Come on. Let's go get some" and before leaving she blowed a kiss to Penelope and glared at Emily.

They both laughed at the glare.

Emily bumped her sister's shoulder with a smile "You know that she's going to make them from scratch to keep Spence busy, right?"

Penelope nodded but still waited for her sister to finish "And you know JJ will eat all the dough if we don't stop her and eat it first, right?"

"Run!" Penelope and Emily rushed out of the room.

"Hey, what's going on!" Aaron looked shocked when his sisters almost ran him over.

"I'll die before I tell you"

He looked confused but then he just picked up quickly "OH NO! FORGET IT" he caught up and pushed his twin out of they way to arrive first in the kitchen.

But Penelope had arrived first because of course Aaron wasn't going to take it out on her, so Emily had to fight him alone and she tried to jump on his back and stop him but then he just kept going on with her wrestling on his back until they arrived in the kitchen and their mother glared at them, taking her eyes off Spencer and the baking for that only split second.

They stopped dead in their tracks but didn't move an inch.

Emily stayed on her bother and her brother stood still in his spot, near the counter where they kept themselves ready to fight everyone to have their cookie dough.

"Do I want to know?" They turned around when they heard their father's voice from behind them.

"We're having some brother-sister bonding time"

David chuckled "Yeah, sure" he said walking past them and to Penelope to kiss her head.

Penelope hugged him and none of them said anything more because there was no need.

"Mommy?" Spencer looked up at her mother

"What is it pumpkin?"

"Penny still hasn't answered my question"


	3. Emily part 1

"What do you mean she got in a fight?" Erin said on the phone. She sighed because of course her daughter would get into a fight. She fought home, it wasn't weird that she fought in school too.

Actually, now that she thought about it, it was weird. Emily lost her temper quite a lot and quite easily but in school she had always behaved and done her job very well. She never put her school career at risk. She had high aspirations and she knew she had to work hard to achieve her goals and getting into fights at school was definitely not on her list of things to do to get into Yale.

So yes, even if she knew her daughter's short temper, it still sounded weird that she had punched a girl in school. She immediately thought that something must have happened for her to react that way, but still she got worried and, from what she could gather from the principal's words, the thing was quite serious and the girl Emily had puched had a broken nose.

Once again, Emily lost her temper but snapping and yelling were the maximum she'd do. She never got physical. Mostly because even if she had her angry moments, she was a sweet girl. Never the violent type. Plus, she was tall but very slim so Erin would have never guessed that she had that kind of strenght in her but maybe a lifetime of having a twin brother that at some point got much bigger and much stronger than her trined her. Aaron was a very calm boy but his sister got the worst out of him. For that Erin was kind of glad.  
He was the oldest brother and, even if Emily was his same age, he felt like he had a sense of resposability towards all of them, especially when their parents were away. That got him to grow a bit faster than boys his age. Emily was very mature as well, but she had also a very playful nature, along with her italian temper, so she would always drag her siblings, including serious mr. Aaron in her stunts.  
And of course sometimes, during their stupid games, they would get physical and with Aaron being so much bigger than her, she had to catch up in some way.

Hence the strenght to break the girl's nose while looking like a stick.

But games were all they ever were.

Whenever she had an argument with one of her siblings, she'd never lay one single finger of them. Because she was against that but above all because she wasn't like that. Emily was stubborn but she was not a violent person.

So yes.  
Her getting into a fight was weird.  
And yes, her hitting a girl also was weird.

Erin stopped trying to figure out what happened and how it happened, realising there was only one way she could get the answers and it was by going to the school and talking to her daughter so she got off the phone and called David, who said he'd meet her at the school.

Outside the principal's office sat a very nervous and angry Emily. The aftermath of the fight hadn't worn off yet and she was still thinking about setting that bitch straight and she would have punched her once more if her brother hadn't caught her up in the air and dragged her away.

Aaron was now in the principal's office, giving his version of the events. Emily rolled her eyes. What was it? The FBI?  
Ironically she was the bad guy.

"Emily!" she turned around and saw her mother's speed towards her "Care to explain why I recieved a call at work that said that my daughter had broken a girl's nose"

"She's a bitch and honestly I don't regret it"

"Emily!" Erin's eyes shot open while Emily crossed her arms over her chest "WHAT?! You didn't even hear my side of the story and you're already accusing me, so no thanks I don't need someone else to tell me that what I did is wrong. For once in your life you could stop being control freak madame Chief and be my mother! Thank you very much!" Emily's eyes had something different in them. She was angry. With the world. With herself. With her life.

"Emily Elizabeth Rossi, don't you dare speak to your mother like that ever again. And now shut up young lady, and sit. This isn't over" Emily looked at her father, appearing from litterally nowhere.

Emily's eyebrow arched up and she crossed her wrists in front of her "Arrest me"

David didn't look away and held his gaze up. His daughter eventually gave up and sat back down, still angry and still ready to fight anyone who told her that what she had done was wrong.  
Erin's shock wore off only when she saw her son get out of the principal's office. She came back to reality and walked in along with David.  
After a couple of minutes Emily was called in to explain what had happened.

Apparently she had snapped after that the girl had bothered her. The first time Emily had told her to _"Get away from my face"_ and when the girl had reacted shocked saying that she wasn't doing anything, Emily had punched her. The girl fell back on the ground and held her beeling nose, screaming that Emily was crazy...right into her face. That's when Aaron came in to take his sister away.

According to the principal, the few witnesses agreed with the other girl's version and Aaron said that he didn't hear the argument but only saw his sister throw the punch and took her away before she could do anything else or before the girl could hit back.

Emily was suspended for two weeks and that got her even angrier. Because _"It's unfair!_ " but her parents didn't say anything.  
They were shocked to hear that their daughter had snapped like that and walked out of the principal's office, glaring at Emily to prevent her from making another scene and took her home. Before leaving, Erin made sure to reassure Aaron and tell him not to worry about anything because his sister was perfectly fine.

He watched them go from the chair outside the office and tried not think too much about the fact that probably she wasn't.

Emily wasn't happy with her parents, or her brother because he didn't have her back. She felt like a complete mess and totally alone. Like no one believed her or thought that she was important. That girl was making fun of her. She was mocking her and belittling her. Her brother didn't stick up for her and let that girl sneer right into her face. So as soon as she was home, she ran to her room and slammed the door shut.

"Dave" Erin sighed after the sharp slamming of the door was heard "What do we do?"

"I don't know. Do you think she's going through something? Maybe she has friends we don't know about that aren't a good influence or-" his phone rang and Erin smiled sadly while David looked at it and sighed "Go" she whispered, resting her hands on his chest "I'll call and take the rest of the day off and see if I can talk to her"

David didn't say anything. He simply nodded and then lowered his head to peck her lips. She patted his chest and gave him one last peck before walking with him to the door "I'll see you later" he whispered and she nodded, accepting his kiss and smiling while he left and she closed the door behing him.  
With one last sigh, Erin took care of work and then sat down on the couch, to process what had happened and try to figure out what to do with Emily.

She tried to think of anything that had changed in her schedule or routine. If she had mentioned new friends or specific things that had happened. But nothing came in mind so whatever was going on, Emily was hiding it.

She sat there for what felt like hours and only realised that so much time had gone by when she heard the cheery voices of her daughters come in, followed by Aaron's now deep one and cute Spencer's.

"MOMMY!" JJ exclaimed and ran to hug her mother, who rarely was home before they were out of school, followed by her brother. Erin happily welcomed them and asked about their days while Penelope stayed behind with Aaron who had a deep frown.

"What?" Penelope asked and Aaron immediatly turned to her when he heard the slight panic in her voice.

"Penny-"

"What happened? Is it bad? Oh my god it's bad! Wha-what? What is it? What is it? Is it dad? He got hurt didn't he? Oh my god! We're fatherless" she had already tears in her eyes and couldn't stop vomiting questions so Aaron gently took her shoulders and enstabilished an eye contact to calm her down "Dad is fine. Everyone's fine. Calm down"

"Then why is she home early, Aaron? She's never home early!"

Aaron sighed "Erm, Emily got into trouble"

Penelope looked at loss of words for a couple of seconds and also like the air got knocked out of her lungs, then she recomposed herself and looked what? Upset?

"IT WAS THAT BOYFRIEND OF HERS, WASN'T IT?!" she hissed in a whisper "I knew he would get her in trouble-"

"Woah woah woah! What are you talking abo- what boyrfriend?" when she heard that voice come out of her brother's mouth, she realised that she had made one huge mistake "Uh oh"

"Penelope!"

"Okay okay! You know how Emily has that little lamp I absolutely adore right? The one with the-"

"Penny..."

"Yeah, right. Sorry. So, I went to her room, it was late. You know that I'm a night owl during weekends. Anyways, I went to her room to ask for the lamp because I wanted to record a video for my channel and it was late and when I walked in I saw that she was neaking back in from her window and she said goodbye to some Ian I've never heard of and then she saw me and made me promise that I'd never tell to anyone. Not a soul. That's how I got the lamp. Permanently. She gave it to me. Willingly. I didn't blackmail her or anything"

Aaron sighed and shook his head. Great. His sister had a secret boyfriend who could only make everything worse. Awesome.

"So. What did the bastart do?"

"Nothing" Aaron looked at his little sister's surprised face "Nothing? But I thought she was busted or something"

"No, she got into a fight in school and broke a girl's nose"

If eyes could pop out, Aaron was pretty sure that Penelope's would have the moment he told her that their sister broke someone's nose.  
"But..." words died in her throat and tears filled her eyes "Emily- she- she doesn't hurt people"

Aaron smiled sadly at their younger sister "She gets mad sometimes but-"

"Yeah, I know" for a moment Aaron pondered telling Penelope what he knew, but then he looked at the hurt in his sister's eyes at the mention of what their sister had done and realised that he could never burden her with the weight of that truth that was probably going to be buried with him.

"I'm sure it's nothing. Mom and dad will fix it" he pulled his sister in a hug and tried to believe his own words while with the corner of his eye, he looked at their mother trying her best to mask her worry and anger towards their sister and take care of all of them. All at once.

"Are you sure that's it? It sounds impossible" Penelope dried her eyes "Dad being out there looking for this Ian" venom filled the name of Emily's secret boyfriend when it left sweet Penelope's mouth "And putting him in jail sounds so much more possible"

Aaron chuckled and shook his head. She was amazing, their sister. So bright and full of life and capable of making everyone feel better even if she wasn't herself and even if she didn't try.

"I'm sure lil genius"

"I thought Spencer was the genius"

"Hey, you're smart too!"

Penelope smiled at her brother and then finally walked further in the room to greet her mother. Aaron stood back for a bit more time. Confused on what had happened and what was going to happen now.

He shook his dark thoughts away and finally joined his family and smiled at Spencer complaining about his teacher.

"Spencer! Your teacher isn't stupid! Don't say that ever again!" Erin was shocked. Her kids were killing her today. And not in a good way.

"But she talks to me with a stupid baby voice and she makes me sing stupid songs about letters and nubers! Who doesn't know them?!"

Erin sighed and rubbed her face while Aaron and Penelope sniggered.

"Nonetheless, we don't say people are stupid okay?"

"Emily calls Aaron idiot 14.3 times a day. Average"

Erin chuckled. Of course he knew how many times her daughter would insult her brother every day. And of course he'd say that with such big words.

"And JJ says that maths is stupid everytime she does her homework. Penelope says silly. Are we counting that too?"

Erin sighed "Okay. Stop. Don't say any of that or no books before bed. Are we clear?"

Spencer's eyes widened in fear at the possibility of not reading before bed so he immediately nodded his head "Yes mommy. I'm sorry"

Erin nodded and went to make some snacks before they started their homework.

"Have you talked to her?" she jumped a little but calmed down as soon as she saw that it was Aaron "No baby" she went back to the sandwiches.

"Do you want me to?"

Erin wiped her hands and walked to her boy "Honey, I know you feel like you have to take care of her and you have to protect her because not only she's your sister, but she's your twin. But I promise your dad and I will take care of it and make sure to get to the bottom of this and clear the air before anything like that can happen again" she cupped his cheeks and searched his elusive eyes "Aaron?"

He finally looked at her and nodded "Okay" she whispered and got on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek "Now, give her some space and don't worry about a thing" she patted his shoulder and went to the living room to give the kids the sandwiches.

"Spencer, go to your room and tidy up. Your trains all over the place and I don't want you to trip over them" Spencer looked up at her mom "Can I play with them first?"

"As long as you put them away later"

And on that note, every member of the Rossi family kept themselves busy for the rest of the day.  
Penelope helped JJ with her maths homework for a while, telling her she'd go do hers but she could still call her if she needed more help.  
Aaron, much like his twin sister, had locked himself up in room, trying to shake this weird feeling off of him buy buring himself in homework.

Spencer played with his trains and eventually got bored so he resumed reading his book from where he had left off and when Erin walked in for the laundry she sighed "Honey, the trains"

Spencer immediately run to the floor to pick up all of his trains, finally listening to his mother.

At Emily's door, Erin took a deep breath. She put the basket down and took a deep breath before knocking.  
She patiently waited for her daughter to say something, anything, even "Go away" but no answer ever came. So Erin gently opened the door and peered inside "Em, it's mom" she whispered and looked at the frame of her daughter laying on the bed.

She closed the door behind herself and went to sit down on the bed, where Emily had tear stained cheeks and lost eyes "Emily, sweetie" she put her hand on Emily's leg and she immediately shook it off. Erin frowned and sighed.

"If you're here to tell me that punishing me was the right thing to do because I have to learn that every action has a consequence, save it" Emily laid still in her position and didn't turn around to look at her mother

"I actually came here to ask you what this is about" Erin's voice was calm and soft.

"I told you and it still got me here. So, what's the point?" Emily's was cold and distant.

Erin sighed "Emily, you do realise that you broke the girl's nose and that it is not right, don't you?"

"And you do realise that she bullied me?"

"That excuses you bullying back?" Erin raised her voice a litte.

"No. How come her bullying me is okay and me responding is the end of the world?" and so did Emily when she finally sat up and looked at her mom.

"She's not my daughter. I don't care what she does. What I care about is what you do"

"Oh so you don't care if she hurts me?"

"That's not what I said"

"That's exactly what you said"

"No! Of course I care if she hurts you. But you come first-"

"Do I?"

"Emily! Of course! And I know that what you did will hurt you more than the girl's words in the long run. You compromised your whole dream! That's what I care about"

"Oh! Right! The perfect daughter, with the perfect grades, behavior, career and life. Sorry, sometimes I forget that the first requirement for the child of FBI agents is perfection. God forbid one of them is a disappointment!"

"You're not a disappointment! Stop twisting my words"

"See?! Always my fault!"

"Okay you know what? It's useless. I tried. But you're impossible. Dinner is ready in a hour. And you're grounded. Forget any possibility of negotiation"

"I'm not hungry"

"One. Hour." what had started as a calm and quiet conversationg, had turned into screaming and fighting and eventually resulted in Emily's door being slammed shut for the second time in a day.

* * *

When Erin got in bed that day, she was more tired than a half day of work should have made her. She waited for David to come out of the master bathroom and come to bed to talk with him. There was so much to talk about and yet she couldn't come up with anything to say.  
She rubbed her face with her hands and pinched the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes and trying to relax.

Deep in thoughts, she got startled when she felt David's hands on her shoulders "We can't leave her alone, can we?" David asked and Erin shook her head before bowing it down to let him massage her shoulders and back.

"She'll never come to the office either"

"She didn't come to dinner. I doubt she'll come out of her room"

"So what do we do?"

"I have no idea" Erin felt like crying. She was tense and angry and the massage was helping but not enough. She felt like her chest was ready to implode.  
She sighed for the million time that day "Also, we have to look into an advanced placement for Spencer. He is getting bored and frustrated. The other kids color and count to ten. He reads and multiplies"

David chuckled and kissed her temple "Our little genius". Erin smiled and then turned her head to her left, to look at David with a small smile "Do you ever worry? About him?"  
David stroked her hair "I worry about all of them"

"Of course. I know. But I mean... do you ever worry about the fact that he's so smart but so small? He already knows so much, I don't want him to get hurt by his own intelligence. And the other kids! They can be so mean..."

David didn't know to make his wife feel better. Of course he worried their little, bright genius would end up getting hurt because he was so smart.  
And he worried about other kids bullying him because they didn't understand him "Well, if someone ever bullies him, Emily will punch them and break their nose"

That got him an elbow in the stomach "Don't even think about making a joke about it ever again"

David laughed and rubbed the sore spot "Oh come on! That was funny" she tried to protest "No. It was not. Our daughter is not a monster"

"She did broke the girl's nose. What was her name by the way?"

Erin sighed "Tara" she said "Lewis"

"Aaron does joke quite often about Emily ending up in a juvenile institue" another elbow "DAVE!"

"Okay, okay! I get it. I'll stop!" he put his hands up in surrender and Erin calmed down "Come here" he pulled the blonde back in his arms, kissed her head and held tight.

"I'm sure it's just a one time thing we don't need to worry too much about. She is a teenager after all. These things can happen"

Erin closed her eyes and tried to trust her husband's words while the rythm of his heartbeat relaxed her and lullied her to sleep.


	4. Emily part 2

**_DISCLAIMER: mention of drugs and references to sex (not smut)_**

Two months had gone by since the day Emily had punched Tara Lewis in the face and so many things had changed within the young rebel girl.  
She had found herself alone. All her friends had pretty much given up on her. She had pushed everyone away and shut all her closest friends out of her life and none of them thought that she was worth fighting for. Just like she feared.  
So she was holding onto Ian for dear life. He was all he had left. Her family was a mess. She hated them.

They didn't support her and didn't have her back. Her parents thought she was a failure and her brother was a liar who betrayed her. Her youner siblings only made her lose her mind. She hated them. She could barely stand the sight of them. Her mother especially. She was making it impossible for Emily ever since she had found out that her precious perfect little girl had done a mistake.

Mistakes weren't allowed, were they? Of course they weren't.

That night, though, something clicked. She had sneaked out of the window and met Ian. Aaron saw her. And she saw him. Ian didn't. But the two twins shared a look and for a split second Emily felt ashamed.  
Because her dress was something she would have never worn normally and because Ian was kissing her while holding a firm grip of her ass.  
She was kissing his back but her eyes were on Aaron, who was watching sadly from the window.

Her eyes begged him not to say anything and immediately he left the window. She sighed and pulled Ian away before her parents could see them. But no one ever came.  
Aaron didn't snitch.  
A small smile appeared on her face while she walked towards Ian's car.

"Are you coming on not?" she heard his voice and was immediately brought back to reality. She forgot about Aaron and the shame she had felt in appearing like a whore in front of his eyes and also the sense of trust and loyalty she had gotten from the fact that he decided to keep her secret and let her go.

Emily looked at Ian and smirked, jumping in the car and leaving with him, knowing all too well what would have happened. They'd smoke weed and have sex. Drink something and probably have sex once again. They'd trashmouth every single thing and person in their life and probably smoke more or sometimes...

It didn't happen often. But sometimes, a couple of times Ian had coke.  
At first she had been hesistant, but he convinced her to try it and she found it addicting.

"Do you wanna go to a party?" Ian asked while driving.

"Do you have it?" Emily answered with another question. Ian looked at her and grinned "What do you think?" he had a smug face and slowly her frown turned into a smirk. He kept driving and put a little vial out of his leather jacket pocket and threw it at her. She caught it and poured the white content on the back of her hand before inhaling it.

Ian couldn't stop smiling. Emily was absolutely extraordinary for a sixteen year old. He was twenty one but she was the wildest girl he'd have known and been with.  
He cast one last glance at her before changing road.

"What are you doing? I thought we were going to the party" Emily asked and Ian stayed in silence and kept driving until they reached a quite isolated palce and he parked the car.

"Change of plans baby" he leaned over to devour Emily's mouth while his hand came to rest on her inner thigh. Emily smirked in the kiss and let him move and hover over her "You're just too hot. I want you all to myself today" he purred and she let him. Because if coke gave her incredible rushes of adrenaline, coke and sex were the death of her.

Ian had taught her how to be with a man and he knew how to make her feel good. How to make her see the stars and reach peaks her whole body craved even when she wasn't asking for it or wanting it.  
Every time Ian touched her it was more than a simple touch by a good fuck. The pleasure was not only a physical solution to a physical need. It was so much more. It was like it was the answer to the mess inside of her head. It was like something her mind needed more than her body. It was something she needed.  
Something she searched for. It eased down demonds she bottled inside of her most times. It made her feel like not having control over herself could be good sometimes. And not only the worst thing ever.

It emptied her but in the good way.  
Not like when she'd get too mad or too sad.

No.

Ian was a medicine.  
And she needed him. She depended on him and he was simply _amazing._

And above all, he was different and made her feel right making being with him the most right thing she could come up with.

So the change of plans was as good for him as it was for her "I like how you think" she smirked and he kissed the spot behind her ear "I like you"

And on that note, nothing was said anymore. Just heavy breaths, panting and moans in a car that was way too fancy for a 21 year old but Emily didn't question it. She didn't question him. She never asked anything. Not where he got the drugs or how he had all those expensive things. She didn't know much about him but one thing she knew, and it was that she loved him. And he loved her.

* * *

"Do you want to go home?" he asked her when he realised that it was a bit over 1am. Emily wasn't tired. She wasn't sleepy. She felt like she could jump off the walls and never get tired so she bit her lip to hide her mischievous grin "I'm not tired. Let's go to the party"

Ian was surprised, always more amazed by the girl at his side. He started the car and smirked "You have a stain on your dress"

"And whose fault is that?" Emily stated, he tried to hide his laugh while she tried to clean it off "Well, they'll know you're taken"

"Jealous much?"

"Hey, my girlfriend's hot. They better know not to mess with me"

"So your solution is to leave questionable stains on me?"

He laughed "Maybe. We'll see" she shook her head and he drove to the party he knew was still going on. "Hey, come here" he said when they got off the car and she started walking towards the door. Emily stopped dead in her tracks and waited for him to walk up to her. "What?" she asked, confused but he didn't say anything. He put his hand on her back and pulled her to him, kissing her and then resuming walking with his arm around her waist and his hand on her ass "Let's go"

If you asked anyone, Ian's kiss weren't romantic or sweet. They were possessive, had something dirty in them that made you turn your stomach but they were never the kind of kiss that a sweet, loving boy would give to his girlfriend.  
To Emily though, they were the best kind of kisses.

At the party, of course, Emily let herself completely go and didn't care what she drank or swallowed. All she cared about was the adrenaline that ran through her veins. She was there for the rush of excitment. Plus, rubbing herself against other boys while looking at Ian made her feel powerful.  
That was something they had found out in the beginning of wathever was going on between them.  
She'd turn other boys on and make them believe that she was available and then Ian would come and show who she belonged to.  
They had fun like that and they'd prove who was in charge.

The thing was, it was always Emily who played with other guys and never the other way around. And for some reason that night someone thought that it would be a great idea to hit on her boyfriend. Emily saw red when she saw the girl's ass on Ian's crotch and she stopped thinking. It was like her mind had blacked out but her body didn't. It was like some wires in her brain had broken off or detached and she completely lost control of herself. Her body and her brain. Nothing worked anymore.

All she knew was that that little whore had to step back so she charged towards them and before anyone could understand what was going on, her punch collided with the blonde's jaw. Everyone was shocked but got excited for what might happen next. Fights were always exciting and good news for the ones who didn't partecipate in them.

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" the girl exclaimed "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?"

"STEP BACK" Emily screamed with fury in her eyes. The girl slapped her right across the face and Emily was quick to respond, kicking her in the stomach. Everyone cheered and the blonde gripped Emily on the shoulders to push her, Emily grabbed her hair and pulled it, making her scream and slamming her on the wall and punching her once more, straight on the nose.

At every hit everyone would "woooooohh" and comment with things like "Shit" or "Holy crap" and "That was a good one" but Emily didn't hear any of that. The only thing she could hear was the voice in her head, telling her that the girl was a bitch and needed to have the crap beaten out of her.  
After the punch on the nose, the girl slammed her head against Emily's forehead, making her stumble back and something broke inside Emily.  
If she was angry before, she was absolutely out of her mind now. She grabbed the first thing that she found in her hand reach, which happened to be a small vase and was about to throw it at the girl, but Ian caught just in time and took her away before things could go further and definitely before the cops could arrive and arrest them all. Neither of them noticed Emily's fist clutching around the glass item so strongly that it crushed in her hand, providing her with quite a deep cut. The adrenaline preventing Emily herself to feel the pain.

He dragged her in the car and flew the place as fast as he could, taking Emily's house direction. Before they could reach the house, he stopped the car "Let me see" he said and Emily shook her head "It's nothing" she wiped the bleeding hand against her dress.

"Baby-"

"It's nothing Ian. Drop it!" she snapped and he arched his eyebrow, shocked by the outburst "Okay, but calm dow. Jeez" Emily huffed "Don't tell me what to do"

"What the hell Emily?!"

She felt the anger rise inside of her once again. Why did he have to baby her? He wasn't her father, he couldn't tell her what to do and she hated being told what to do.

"I'm walking" she got off the car and slammed the door.

"Ohh come on baby!" he followed her with the car "Go away" she spat while walking with her arms crossed on her chest "Get in the car Emily. I'm not kidding"

"I'm not either. I'm walking and you're leaving. Goodbye"

"Okay whatever. Call me when you're done being a spoiled pussy" he pushed the gas pedal and in a blink of an eye he was gone. Emily walked back to her house and climbed back in her room, where he found Aaron sitting on her bed.

"Why aren't you sleeping?"

"Why aren't you in your bed?"

"Leave me alone Aaron"

"Yeah? So you can keep jumping out of your window to go screw some random guy-"

"He's not a random guy! He's my boyfriend and I love him"

"Wow" Aaron was shocked and disappointed to hear those words and then noticed the bump on her forehead "What's that? You hit your head while you sucked his dick?" he hissed shocking her to say the least. Aaron didn't talk like that, unless he was really upset and even if he was upset he was never _that_ vulgar.  
Emily had a trash mouth and that was well known by everyone, but Aaron? If he said _fuck_ it was already too much.  
So when she heard that choice of words, she stood petrified and watched him turn on his heels and leave silently only because it was 4am and if he made a single noise the whole house would be up in a second.

Emily would have _loved_ to tell him just how wrong he was and give him another piece of her mind for judging her so easily and so quickly and she surely would have loved to tell him how she got the bump on her forehead but thing was: she didn't know. She didn't _remember._  
She didn't recall hitting her head somewhere or getting hurt.  
She knew she had a bleeding hand but she had blurred memories and they were about the moment Ian got her away from the party only. She knew something had appened and she got jealous and angry with that blonde girl but the fight itself was just a mess she couldn't make out.

She shook the thoughts off and went to clean her cut and change before getting in bed where she never fell asleep but only laid awake, letting darkness take her.  
But not sleep.  
That never came.

Quite often sleep never came.

* * *

The morning after Emily covered her bump and made sure not to show her injured hand when she went down to the kitchen. Makeup covered the fact that she got drunk and high the night before and that well, she hadn't gotten any sleep and that in general she was getting very little sleep.

"Spencer, eat your cereals!" Erin rolled her eyes behind the coffee mug.

"But I don't like the green loops"

"Spence, they're exactly the same" JJ chimed in.

"No, they're not!" he argued, not picking up the spoon from the bowl and staring at the cereals almost as if he stared at them long enough, the green ones would disappear.

"They totally are, baby boy" Penelope chuckled while she ate hers.

"Stop! I'm not a baby!" he screamed and Erin rubbed her temples. It was definitely too early for this. "DADDY!" Spencer shouted for help...that never really arrived.

"Well squirt, big boys eat green cereals" he nodded towards a very silent Aaron "See? Aaron eats them" Spencer looked at Aaron put a big spoonful of cereals in his mouth, including the green ones and his eyes widened "Okay then I'm a baby and I'm writing to the cereal company to ask them to stop making the green ones"

"No honey, don't- ughh" Erin sighed, her shoulder slumping in defeat when the little boy ran away, not touching his cereals at all.

David chuckled and observed Aaron, he was about to ask what was wrong with him but he got distracted by Emily walking in.

"Good morning" Erin was the only one to speak while everyone looked at the brunette girl. Aaron with a glare David couldn't quite figure out.

"Yeah whatever" she stated and went to the fridge to get a water bottle "Emily!" Erin scolded "I get it that you hate us all because we punished you for something that you were clearly in fault for but-"

"Stop it! Okay?! Stop it! Leave me alone! And stop telling me what to do and how to act and what to say! I'm sick and tired of this. Get off me!" she snapped and ran out of the kitchen to pick her backpack and leave.

Erin sighed and closed her eyes. It was definitely too early for all of this. David studied intently Aaron while he looked at his sister's outburst and he knew that he had to talk to the boy. His jaw was clanched tight, his frown deep and his lips sealed.

* * *

Ian woke up to the his phone buzzling. He rolled over and looked at the screen. There was a message from Emily.

 _"Pick me up?"_ It read.

He sighed _"Where u at?"_ he typed back.

 _"Park"_ was her response and Ian sighed _"Coming"_

He quickly got up and changed to get out of the big mansion he lived in and go to where Emily had told him she was. He found her sitting on a bench, biting her nails. Her leg restless.

"Someone's upset" she turned around immediately, startled at first but eventually calmed down when she recognised the voice. "You scared me! What were you thinking, jumping up behind my back like that?"

"I didn't jump. You did" he said with his irish accent. "Yeah, whatever" she rolled her eyes and he sighed. She was still upset.

"Come on. Let's go, I want to show you something"

"What?"

"Let's just go" Emily sighed and followed him. Without asking anything else, as always.

"What's this?" she asked when he stopped the car in front of a huge house. She lived in a mansion too. Her parents had good job and her father was also a writer. But this was literally something else.

"My house" Ian said and her head shot to him "What?"

He chuckled and got off the car and she followed him "I mean I kinda figured that you were rich but damn, this is _very_ rich"

"I'm not rich. My dad is"

"It's the same"

"Not really" she rolled her eyes but smiled when he pulled her to his side and kissed her head. His hand always on her butt.

"Wait, I'm not meeting your parents, am I?"

"Nha! They're not even here. My dad is back in Ireland and my mother left when I was born"

Emily arched her eyebrows in surprise but didn't ask anything else, picking up from his tone that it was not something he gladly talked about.

He led her in and helped her relax, smoking some weed and making out. That helped. That was the only thing that could help.

"Thanks for bringing me here" she said, covering her body with the sheets of his bed and resting her head against his shoulder "Well, it had it perks, didn't it?" she chuckled and moaned a little when he attached his mouth to her neck one more.

"Definitely" she squealed when he flipped them over and laid her flat on her back and climbed over her.

"Round two ladies and gentlmen"

* * *

"Aaron, we need to talk" David stopped his son while everyone got out of the kitchen after breakfast "What is it?" he said while Erin watched putting away the dirty dishes and mugs.

"Is there something you want to tell us?" David asked and Aaron looked at him with a hint of frown before shooking slightly his head "No" he whispered. Erin wiped her hands and walked up to the duo "Aaron, we don't want to punish her. We just want to understand what's going on"

"Can't you ask her?"

"She doesn't let us. Because she's angry with us. But you...she trusts you-"

"So you suggest I betray her trust?"

"So you do know something"

"I never said tha-"

"Aaron!" Erin closed her eyes, trying to calm down "Please"

He looked at his parents. His argument with Emily during her suspension period replaying in his head "I don't know anything"

"Swear" Erin said "Look at us and promise you don't know _anything"_

Aaron looked at his father first and then switched his eyes on his mother, looking at her in the eyes "I swear I know nothing. Now can I go? I'm late" he turned around and left.

David sighed and Erin rubbed her face. Desperate.  
He knew Aaron was lying but he decided not to tell his wife. She didn't need to worry about that as well. So he kept it to himself.

* * *

"Hello?" Erin picked up the phone.

"Mrs Rossi? I'm Principal Cruz"

"Yes, good morning Principal Cruz, how can I help you?" she bit her lip and frowned, knowing already that something was wrong.

"I would like to speak you as soon as possible if that's not a problem?"

"I'm sorry, is something wrong?"

"Emily has been missing school lately and we wanted to check in with you because Aaron said she's been sick. Also, some of the teachers would like to talk to you"

Erin's world crushed down. She sighed and said she and her husband would be over in twenty minutes. She ran to David and said it was about Emily. He sighed and she knew.

"It's okay. I'll take care of it. Don't worry"

"Erin-"

"No. I get it. I'll call you. Be careful" she turned around, didn't kiss him goodbye and left. She drove to the school, angry.  
Angry with Emily because she had lost her mind.  
Angry with Aaron because he lied straight into her face.  
Angry with David because he had to leave.

Angry with herself because she didn't know how to fix this.

Once at the school, she ran to the principal office and when she walked in she saw Aaron sitting in front of the principal himself and a few teachers.

"Good morning. I'm sorry, my husband had a work emergency" she said and smiled politely at all of them.

"Please Mrs. Rossi. Have a seat" Erin sat down and didn't meet her son's eyes when he turned around to look at her.

"What is it?" she asked, on the edge of exploding.

"Mrs. Rossi, Emily had been skipping school ever since she had been back from her suspension-"

"Wait a second, she's been absent the whole time?"

"No. She came regularly the first week, then she started with a few absences here and there until last week, when she didn't come at all. Not even for a day"

"And of course, she missed some tests. Her grades- her very good grades, have been dropping" her literature teacher said "And her behavior has changed completely"

"She never apoloised to Tara Lews for what happened and she replies when she's scolded or something is pointed out to her" it was maths teacher's turn.

"When she's physically in school, she's not here mentally. She wonders off, doesn't focus and gets angry as soon as you call her out on it"

"And we thought about asking Aaron about it before calling you in. He said a couple of weeks ago that she's been sick and that's why she's not attending regularly. He said she'd come and go from doctors and well, at first we didn't look too much into it but when we noticed the change in her behavior we started to worry. This past week was the alarm that set us all off. Hence the call and your presence here" the chemistry teacher explained.

Erin nodded politely at all of them and then shook their hands "Thank you for calling me. We'll make sure to take care of it. Emily will be in tomorrow and please call me if anything happens. If she skips or if she does anything at all that catches your attention. May I take Aaron out early?"

The principal nodded and gave her a permission to sign. She thanked them all once again and hinted Aaron to get out.

* * *

"Mom-" he said in the car.

"Don't" she cut him off "Don't even try. Save it" she was furious.

"I didn't know what to do!" he argued.

"YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD US!" she raised her voice "You should have told us that you knew that she's been skipping school. Where is she going anywhere? Aaron, I'm givin you one last chance to talk before you end up grounded for the rest of your life. You better spill out what you know"

He sighed "She has a boyfriend"

Erin tried not to take it out on him because she knew it wasn't his fault "And?"

"And I don't know anything else" he looked out the window because he couldn't look at his mom while he lied once again. He knew more. He knew so much more than even Emily thought he did. And those secrets were rotting inside of him but still he couldn't find the courage to spill them. It wasn't his story to tell. They weren't his secrets to reveal.  
He was her twin, but she still was her own person and he still was his own. They weren't the same thing. And he couldn't make choices that were up to her.

"Do you know him?"

"No"

"Okay then do you know his name? Have you ever seen him? Aaron!"

"IAN!" he spat "His name is Ian! I don't know anything else. Don't blame me! It's her fault! Not mine!"

Erin sighed "Okay, okay. You're right. I'm sorry, I'm sorry honey" Erin tried to take deep breaths to calm down. He was right. It wasn't his fault.  
They arrived home and she parked the car "Wait for me in the living room" Aaron didn't add anything and silently went to where he was told, knowing that his life and her sister's were about to end.

Erin texted Emily _"You better come home right now or I'll send the FBI looking for you and I swear to God I'll end you and whoever you are with before you can even blink. Home. Now"_

* * *

"Oh shit" Emily said.

"I know" Ian panted from above her "I know baby"

"No, it's my mom"

"Emily, put the phone away" Ian said while he thrusted into her "No Ian. Stop. Really. I gotta go home. She's pissed" she said, getting away from him and putting her clothes on as quickly as possible. The boy sighed "IAN! I'M SERIOUS!" she threw his pants at him "Get dressed and take me home"

He was going to leave her in front of her house but she stopped him a block before "It's not a good idea showing her your face. Or your car. Or...your existence" he winced "That mad?"

Emily sighed "Yeah" she said and pecked his lips "I'll call you later"  
He didn't let go and deepened the kiss. Emily smiled against his mouth while his tongue explored hers.

"I gotta go" she pulled away and wiped his lips

"I'll see you tonight?" she wiped hers and nodded.

"Bye bebe" she said "Bye hottie" he slapped her ass while she climbed out of the car and she laughed.

* * *

When Emily opened the door she found her mother standing a few feet behind it. Arms crossed and furious eyes.

"Living room" she said and walked towards the room. Emily followed her. "Sit" she said and Emily noticed that her brother was sitting there as well.

She saw red and was ready to strangle him. She couldn't believe that her asshole of a brother threw her under the bus.

"I'm going to give you one chance. You either say the truth or you'll never be allowed outside of this house unless you're given permission from me or you father-"

"Where is he anyways?"

"Shut. Up." Erin shot a glare to her daughter "You lie, and you'll be allowed out only if one of us can be there with you _and_ you can't be more than five feet away from us"

"The fuck-"

"EMILY! I'm quite sure you think this is a joke but trust me, it is not. Do you understand?"

"Yes madame Chief Strauss" Emily replied smugly "Do I have the right to a laywer?"

"Emily I dont think-"

"Don't even look at me" Emily spat at her brother.

"So Emily, care to tell me where you were?"

Emily didn't say anything.

"I bet whoever you were with will be sorry to have me too there whenever you meet up, uh?"

"I was with a friend"

"Ian?" Erin arched her eyebrows and Emily clenched her fists. She was so going to kill Aaron. And Penelope too.

"Does it matter?"

"YES! YES IT FREAKING DOES YOUNG LADY! AND YOU BETTER DROP THE ATTITUDE BECAUSE I'M SICK OF YOU THINKING THAT THIS WILL GET YOU SOMEWHERE AND THAT IF YOU BITE YOU'LL GET WHAT YOU WANT. WE'VE BEEN PLAYING YOUR GAME, GIVING YOU SPACE AND WHATEVER CRAP YOU SCREAM YOU WANTED BUT NOW IT'S OVER AND I'M NOT PUTTING UP WITH YOUR "I DON'T GIVE A FUCK" ATTITUDE" Emily sighed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"So. Where were you today? And every single day you've skipped school since you've been back from suspension"

Emily didn't look up at her mother "Around"

"Around where?"

"Depends"

"EMILY!"

"I WAS WITH MY BOYFRIEND OKAY? IS THAT WHAT YOU WANTED TO HEAR?"

"I WANT THE TRUTH!"

"THAT'S THE TRUTH!"

Erin sighed and stopped pacing, crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Emily "IS that why you've been acting out? Who's this boyfriend?"

"WHAT? HE HAS TO BE APPROVED BY THE FREAKING FBI?"

"EMILY! WHO IS HE?!"

"None of your business"

"Come again"

"He's a guy...I met"

"Met where?"

Emily didn't answer. It looked like her mom didn't know about her sneaking out the window in the middle of the night so she didn't want to give it away.

"Emily..."

Still no answer.

Erin sighed "Okay then why did you have to drag your brother into this?"

"What?"

"Emily please, I'm tired can you just stop-"

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT! I DON'T KNOW OKAY?!"

"So you didn't ask him to lie for you?" Emily looked at her brother with a deep frown. The only time she had asked him to hide something from her parents for her was when he saw her sneak out but her mother wasn't talking about that. So technically no. He had covered her all this time and she thought he had betrayed her.  
She stuttered and tears formed in her eyes "I-I" she swallowed the tears "I didn't know" she whispered.

Erin sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Great. Now both of them were sneaky liars.

"You're both grounded. We'll talk about it more when your father is back. Emily, you'll wake up, I'll personally take you to school and _watch_ you get inside and if I need I'll walk you in myself, you'll come back home, do your homework and catch up with every thing you've missed while you've been out there doing God knows what and you better work your ass off to get your grades back in line. Both of you, give me your phones and computer. You're allowed to use it for homework and nothing else"

"And Emily, if your boyfriend wants to see you he'll have to come here and he better be clean if he does"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"As if you don't know" she held her gaze.  
Drugs. Of course she knew.

"May we go?"

"Oh no, you can stay here. I'll work while Clyde helps Bonnie to catch up with schoolwork"

They wanted to roll their eyes but knew they couldn't.

"We're not babies" Emily argued instead of rolling her eyes.

"Oh really? Last time I checked I was so sure you weren't as well, but apparently we were all fools because to me it looks like you freaking are! Don't you agree?"

They didn't answer.

"I thought so. Your phones" she held out her hands and they handed her the devices.  
One last glare and none of them spoke another word.

Erin thought she had the situation under control and she could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Emily was sure that it was the worst that could happen.

Aaron, though, deep down felt that something was still incredibly wrong.

None of them knew that the worst had yet to come.  
The kind of worst that knocks the air out of your lungs and changes your life forever.

It was there.  
Luring.  
And it was about to strike.

* * *

 **HELLO EVERYONEEE!**

Okay so first of all, I wanted to thank you all for the support you've been showing me! Really I wasn't expecting it when I published this OS collection.  
I also wanted to clarify a couple of things because I want to be sure that it's clear and everything.

Basically this is a OS collection. The family is always the same and a os doesn't change the dynamics of the others. There's not a specific plot, but just a bunch of things that the family goes through, bad and good. That means that **I'M ALWAYS UP FOR SOME PROMPTS!** YAY!  
What I'm trying to say is that everything is connected but it also isn't hahaha I'm not sure if it makes sense.  
Anyway, if you have questions, feel free to ask me whatever you want.

I'll put disclaimers everytime there's something that goes beyond the rating I've selected for the OS.  
Some OS can have more than one chapter, like this one. Every time it happens, it will have the same name and it will be divided in parts. That's when the plot will be the same.  
I hope this doens't come off as messy as I think it is hahah.

 **About this specific OS:** It will all make sense soon. I promise. It will probably have one or two chapters more, I don't know yet. Anyways, stay tuned!

Bye bye everyone! See you _really_ soon! xoxo

PS: Sorry if there are mistakes or typos but I don't have a beta reader and English isn't my first language so not everything comes up immediately.


	5. Emily part 3

**TRIGGER WARNING: MENTAL HEALTH**

When David heard the telephone ring he knew something was wrong. He woke up with a start, his heart racing and his stomach twisting and turning. He couldn't explain it but he simply knew that something had happened. He rushed out of the bed and ran to pick up.

When those words were spoken, for a split, tiny second he blanked out and his knees almost gave in making him fall. He was trained to stay calm and collected, to be able to think through any situation and stay lucid and have a clear head, no matter what happened. He was literally programmed to have cold feel and keep it together. And together he kept it. Even if he wanted to scream and throw things at walls. Even if he forgot his own name for a moment. Even if breathing had never been so hard.

No gunshot or punch had hurt him as much as hearing "I'm doctor Messer. You're daughter was in car crash".  
That almost broke him.  
What shook him was Erin standing right in front of him with a concerned look while she held the hems of the robe tight around her.

"Yes. Thank you. We'll be there" he hung up and for a moment he just stared into nothing, scared that if he moved he'd realize that it was all true and that Emily was really in the hospital when she should have been in the safety of her bed.

"Dave, what is it? You're scaring me. Something came up at work?" she asked and followed him when he rushed to the bedroom to change. "Erin, get dressed"

"DAVID!" she exclaimed, frustrated with him for not answering her questions. He stopped dead in his tracks and looked at her, sighing in defeat "It's Emily"

Erin's eyes widened, tears wetting them. "What?" she was confused "What about Emily?" her voice just above a whisper.

"She-" David's voice broke "She was in a car crash"

Erin felt like her heart had stopped beating. She brought a hand to her chest while trying to control her breathing. While trying to breathe in the first place. But she couldn't. There was no air to grasp. The room around her started spinning and the ground beneath her feel falling. She stumbled back until the back of her knees hit the bed and finally her body gave in and let her fall back, allowing her to sit down. She shook her head "No, please, no!"

"The doctor said that she's in surgery but-"

"But?" she whispered, scared to hear what came next.

David sighed

"BUT?" she hissed and David quickly answered "But she's critical" at that, Erin felt like she could never ever breathe again if she lost her daughter. It hit her. The possibility of losing her and she just knew that if she did, she could never breathe again. She started hyperventilating and quickly started sobbing. David was immediately at his side, gripping her shoulders "Erin. Erin, listen to me. Look at me. Calm down. You need to calm down okay? We need to go the hospital and be there for our baby girl, okay?"

Tears kept streaming down Erin's face while she faced one of her biggest fears but focused on the sound of her husband's voice and nodded. Her daughter needed them. She needed her. And she would be there. They would be there. So she stood up and changed in the first thing she could find. They rushed to Aaron's room, telling him that they were was an emergency with Emily and they had to go to her. Aaron protested, wanting to know what had happened but Erin begged him with tears in her eyes to let them go because they really needed to leave and that she'd explain everything later.

"Please" she cupped his cheeks "I promise, _I promise,_ we'll call the moment we know more but-" she wiped his tears "I need you to stay here and be with your brother and sisters, okay?"

Aaron nodded, not trying to hold back the tears. Erin kissed his head and rushed out of the room "I love you" she looked at him one last time and then followed David down the stairs.

"Dave" she whispered while they ran and he stopped, looking behind him, to wait for her. She was immediately at his side and swallowing the tears, she took his hnd in hers, because she wasn't strong enough and he wasn't either and maybe together they would be. He drove as fast as he could. Sirens blaring.  
David left the car without even bothering to park it decently or closing it. He got off as soon as he arrived there, force of habit of doing it at work, and rushed inside with Erin by his side.

"We're Emily Rossi's parents. She was in a car crash- we-" he said to the nurse in the hallway. She smiled gently at them and invited them to sit in the waiting room, telling them that Emily was in surjery and that a doctor would soon come up to update them with what had happened and Emily's conditions.

One hour.  
Nothing.

One hour and half.  
Nothing.

Two hours.  
They were frantic.  
Couldn't sit.  
Couldn't stand.  
Couldn't speak.  
Couldn't say anything.

Two hours and a half.  
David was getting angry.  
No one was coming up.  
No one was telling them what was going on.

Three hours and a half.  
David kicked the set of chairs and punched the wall in front of him, before slowly sliding down. A wreck. Before he could hurt himself Erin was kneeling down beside him and holding his cheeks in her hands "Honey please" she begged sobbing quitely while David kept his head between his hands, looking down.

"David, she'll be fine" she hiccupped "She's the one who punches remember? She doesn't get punched and if she does, I'm sure she always finds the strenght to hit back" that was true. Emily was strong. In everything. Bad or good. She'd be strong.  
She had been a strong good child and a strong rebel teenager.  
Whatever form her strenght came in, it was always strenght and they all knew that.

David finally let go and started crying. Erin brought him closer and rested his head on her shoulder and her cheek on the side of his head, while she tried to soothe the both of them "She'll be fine" David's grip on Erin had made his knuckles turn white. He needed to feel her closer because otherwhise he'd go mad.

"It's my fault" he sobbed "What?" Erin exclaimed "I'm never home. If I was home more I could have-"

"No, no. Listen to me" Erin made him look at her in the eyes "It's nobody's fault. It happened. Period. Do you understand me? You're an amazing father and a true _hero._ I know that. And your children know that and respect and admire you for that so don't do this to yourself" she rested her forehead against his. Her right hand still on the side of his head while the other was between David's bigger ones.

"Emily Rossi?" a doctor called and they were immediately at their feet, walking towards the doctor. That was the moment. It was either one or the other. No inbetween. She was alive. Or she wasn't alive.  
No other choice.

"Hi, I'm doctor Messer, Emily is in post surgery and she'll probably wake up in a couple of hours so her body can recover from both the crash and the operation. We'll keep a close eye on her, especially in the next twenty-four hours but for now everything looks good"

The two parents let out a sigh of relief. Erin's eyes getting wet once more while she held a hand to her forehead, incredulous that her little girl was alive.

"What happened? No one told us anything" David asked, now capable of thinking straight once again.

"Uhm, Mr. and Mrs Rossi we-" the doctor tried to avoid their eyes for while and then found the courage to finally look at them "We found traces of alchol and drugs in your daughter's blood, as well as the driver's. He lost control of the vehicle and crashed the car in a truck. The truck's driver wasn't injured and called 911. Emily was unconscious when the ambulance arrived. She hit her head, but it was a minor thing. Nothing serious. The problem was that she broke three ribs and one of them perforated a lung. She had a bad internal bleeding, she lost a lot of blood so it took some time to find the source of the bleeding but we eventually did and stopped it. If everything stays as good as it is right now, the scar should be the only thing left. Her left arm is broken, it will heal in a month or so"

Erin and David nodded, grateful that Emily was alive "How's-" the woman choked on her tears "How's the- the other boy?" she didn't know how she find the courage to worry about him but deep down she knew that he was just a boy and that he was someone's son. And no matter how wrong he was for her daughter, she cared about him so for now, just for this only second, Erin allowed herself to ask about him.

"He was luckier, a broken leg and a few bruises"

"Of course" she chuckled darkly "Can we see her?" the doctor told them that they couldn't yet but that as soon as they could, they were going to be called in.  
David thanked the doctor and then watched her go.

He and Erin looked at each other for a moment and then Erin collapsed in his arms. David wrapped her securely in his arms and held her while she held him. They comforted each other because Emily was alive and there was no more time to think that she was just a teenager acting out.

"She's alright" David whispered while holding Erin's head and stroking her blonde locks "She's alright" he repeated. Erin kept her eyes locked and nodded against David's shoulder, finally breathing fine.

"We'll figure everything out. I promise you Erin. We will" he kissed her temple and held her tight once again before being interrupted by the phone ringing. His heart started breathing really fast again, because the last time he recieved a call, his was told that his daughter was fighting for her life so he immediately picked up and calmed down when Aaron asked what happened.

David explained to him what the doctor told them and he could feel the kid break down from the other side of the phone. "Aaron, she'll be fine"  
"Yeah" he tried to hold back the tears. "I'll be there with the others as soon as possible"

"Aaron-" but he hung up before he could end the sentence. Erin smiled sadly at David, she didn't need to ask what he said. She already knew so she stretched out her arms, inviting him to sit down with her and stroked his back while he sat with his elbows resting on his knees. "There was no way we could make him stay home any longer. I already have no idea how we managed to convince him to sta behind when we left" David chuckled and turned his head towards her, taking her in and then leaning over to kiss her. It was a gentle, intimate kiss. To thank her and to comfort her. To be comforted and to remind her that he loved her beyond words.  
She stroked his cheek and then pulled away, resting her head against his shoulder.

Waiting.

* * *

"MOM!" Penelope cried out while she ran towards her, JJ and Spencer following her straight into their mother's arms. Aaron was slowly walking behind them, his head low and tears in his eyes, ready to fall at any time.

"Shhh, it's okay" Erin comforted each one of them as best as she could, given that as soon as she saw them she felt like crying and breaking down all over again. David picked Spencer up in his arms and joked with him, trying to distract him. Eventually he calmed down but refused to be put down and stayed in his father's hold with his head resting on his shoulder.

"Is she-" Penelope chocked on her tears "No honey, no" Erin understood immediately "She's fine. The doctor said that the surgery went well and that right now she only needs time to rest and recover"

Aaron sat down and David followed him, sitting right next to him with Spencer still in his arms and probably ready to fall asleep once again since it was barely over 6am.

"She sneaked out" David stated and Aaron finally gave in to the tears, letting them fall "Aaron, it's okay" David tried his best because he knew that he was blaming himself "You could have never known that things would end up like this. You're brother and sister and siblings have each other's back all the time, even if it's not always the _best_ thing, it's not always so _wrong_ either"

"Mom told us to say the truth. I didn't"

"It didn't happen because you didn't tell her that you knew she was sneaking out of the window to meet that boyfriend of hers. We couldn't have prevented it either probably, even if we had known"

"I wasn't talking about that"

David studied his son's face and it was telling him that there was so much more to it than they all believed. It ran deeper and it was painful. It was something that apparently had been tearing Aaron apart for a while and he needed to take this off his chest. David laid a sleeping Spencer a few chairs over and then sat down again with Aaron, waiting in silence, letting him know that he could take his time...he was there.

"When she punched Tara Lewis" he mumbled "She said that she did because she had been bothering her and that she said she was crazy and all those kind of things. Making fun of her and...stuff" his eyes were focused on his feet "I said I didn't hear but-"

"You did" David finished for him. Aaron nodded, wiping his eyes and trying not so break into sobs "She didn't. Tara, she-" a moment of silence "She didn't say anything. She didn't even look at Emily. Emily just- lost it and took it out on her. She was mumbling furiously but I couldn't make out what she was saying but she didn't look like herself. Even when I took her away, she-she was not there, you know?"

A deep frown appeared on David's face.

"Then during her suspension we had a fight. She was angry with me because she thoght I didn't have her back with you guys and the principal, that I didn't support her. I told her what I just told you and she looked surprised, like she had been so sure that Tara had said those things. She had no idea. She was genuinely convinced that Tara had insulted her and she argued with me, saying that I was a liar and that I was just like anyone else, wanting her to feel wrong and like a faliure but-"

"No one wanted her to feel that way" David said.

Aaron shook his head while silent tears stremead down his face "For a moment, when I told her the thruth she looked like the whole world had crushed down on her and then she was gone again, like when she got angry with Tara and hit her. Of course she got angry with me as well and wanted to have a fight but I just left. That's when I decided that I'd have her back. I never wanted her to be like that with me again. It hurt. But-" he stopped. He didn't find the courage to say the rest.

"But?"

"But I only ended up hurting her more" he chocked out and finally sobbed. David was quick to embrace Aaron and comfort him.  
"It's not your fault son. It's not your fault" he held him while inside of him, David was trying to make sense of what he had been told. He went over all that happened over the last three months and tried to find a reason to his daughter's behavior. He tried to explain it.

The drugs and the alcohol.  
The boyfriend she'd never be with normally.  
The lies and the sneaking out.  
The _voices.  
_ The anger.  
The _violence.  
_  
He went under and over it. Trying to understand _why._

And suddenly, it hit him. Aaron was slowly pulling out from him and David looked at him with a worried and lost look.

"What is it?"

David shook his head "Nothing" he said quickly "Stay here. I'm going to talk to a doctor" but before he could leave, a doctor came to them. He and Aaron rushed to where Erin was with Penelope and JJ and where the doctor was as well.

"Emily has woken up" they all let a breath of relief "But-" worry written all over their faces once again

"She probably must have woken up scared and lost control. She got agitated and teared her stitches, we had to sedate her in order to calm her down. You can see her now, just two people"

David took Erin's hand and then turned around to give one last glance at all their kids. Penelope and Aaron noddind at them, silently promising that they'd watch over JJ and Spencer that were currently sleeping on the chairs.

Once they were away from their earshot David stopped, making Erin stop as well and calling the doctor so that she could stop too. His wife looked confused while the doctor looked at David, waiting for a question.

"Doctor-" his eyes were frantic and he didn't know how to say this without breaking Erin "David?" her voice was small

"I think- errr" he looked down "I think you should do a pshychiatric evaluation"

The doctor arched her eyebrows in surprise.

"What?" Erin asked in a broken whisper, confused because why would he say something like that? Their daughter was fine. Their daughter was _perfectly_ fine.

"I'm sorry Mr. Rossi I-"

"I don't mean to overstep, absolutely. I know what we're talking about here and I'm saying this because I do think there's a need to check if something is actually wrong" he told the doctor all he had known and why he was suspicious. Erin hearing those words and feeling them like knives in her heart.  
The more David spoke, the more her head spun.  
No. It couldn't be true. No.

Her eyes went from the doctor to David and she didn't know when she had stopped being able to make out their words. To understand what they were saying. Her vision was blurred. Her stomach hurt. Before she could actually get what was happened, it all went black and when she woke up she was laying on a hospital bed.

"Hey" David whispered, getting up from the chair next to her bed and bent down to kiss her brow and stroke her hair.

"The kids-"

"They think we're with Emily"

At the mention of her name, it all came back. The crash, the hospital, David-

She shot up and strapped off everything that was on her and jumped off the bed "Erin-"

"Let go of me"

"ERIN!" David grabbed her hand to stop her "WHAT?! YOU THINK I'M CRAZY TOO!?"

David looked at Erin and sighed. He slowly walked up to her, smiling sadly at her teary eyes trying to avoid him. He run his hands on her arm until he reached her hands and took them in his. Holding tight.

"I don't think you're crazy" he whispered and gave her hands one last squeeze "And I dont think _she's_ crazy" he cupped her cheeks and gently made her look at him, soflty stroking her skin and wiping her tears away "I'm just saying that since it got to _this_ point, and there are actual reasons to believe that it might be more than a teenager acting out, it can only do us all and her good. Just a check up. It's not her fault, it's not anyone's fault. It's just how she might work and we have to be there for her because if it's true, she'll need us" he said "She'll need _you"_ his tone softer, lower. Like velvet "She'll need her mom"

Erin held the tears and nodded, trying to let the sound of his voice soothe her "Can we go see her?" Erin said in a broken sob and David leaned over, kissed her brow once more and then nodded, taking her hand and leading her out of the room. They asked for where Emily's room was since Erin fainted before they could arrive there and a nurse took them there.

Emily was laying in bed, looking exhausted and beaten up. David was the first one to walk inside "Hey kiddo" he smiled and kissed his daughter's head. Emily looked at him but didn't say anything. Erin walked in a little later and stood by the other side of the bed, not knowing what to do. She didn't want her daughter to get upset and hurt herself even further.

The brunette moved her eyes from his dad and set them on her mother, who was looking franticly around the room. Everywhere but her daughter. She was afraid that she'd break her if she looked at her.

"Hi mom" she whispered and Erin's head shot towards her. At first, Erin stared intensely at her daughter before reaching down and caressing the side of her head, minding the bruises "Hi baby"

Emily's face contorted and tears filled her eyes before she let in a broken sob "I'm sorry"

"Oh honey" Erin sat on the bed and stroked her daughter's hair "It's okay. It's okay" she repeated while the girl looked at her mom "I don't know what's going on with me. I'm so sorry"

Erin's words died in her throat. Maybe David was right. Maybe Emily was really fighting a battle inside of her that was bigger and deeper than wanting to be a rebel teenager.

"It'll be alright princess. We'll figure it out" David chimed in and Emily shook her head once more "I'm sorry"  
That's all she could say. She was sorry.

She was sorry for scaring them, for being a mess. For acting out and being an asshole. She was _sorry._

"Emily, look at me honey" David got closer to her "I promise you that we'll figure it out and that everything will be alright. _You_ will be alright. Understand?"

Emily nodded while tears kept streaming down her face. But she wanted to believe her father. She wanted to believe that they'd figure everything out and fix it. Fix _her._

Because something was of course wrong. She knew it. She wasn't like that. She had never been like that. And if she was now, without her wanting it, there was a bigger reason. Something Emily couldn't control or stop. It was bigger than her and she wasn't strong enough to fight it.

"A doctor came in and he asked a million questions I-I- what's wrong with me?"

"Nothing baby" Erin rushed to her "There's absolutely _nothing_ wrong with you, my love. The questions were just to help figure out why this is happening but it doesn't mean that something is wrong with you, okay?"

Emily nodded silently "I'm tired" Emily whispered. The last couple of months catching up with her. She had't been sleeping and she's been living with no rules or inhibitions. Her body was finally beginning to feel the aftermath of what her mind couldn't control and slowly she started closing her eyes, finally drifting off and letting both body and mind rest. Medicines helped. "Rest kiddo" David whispered and stroked her hair while Erin bent down to kiss her forehead.

They exited the room and made sure to close the door behind them so that Emily could rest undisturbed. David waited for Erin and then stretched out his arm, waiting for her to get to his side and as soon as he felt her next to him, he wrapped the arm around her shoulders and hugged to his side, kissing her head.

"Let's go tell them"

Erin nodded and walked with David back to the waiting room, trying to lean on him as much as possible so that she could get strenght for him and to give him strenght.

When they emerged, Aaron and Penelope immediately ran to them "How is she?" Penelope looked agitated and nervous, frantic. Aaron, on the other hand, looked calm and tired "Is she okay? Wha-what's wrong?"

"She's tired. But she's okay. You can go see her as soon as she wakes up. Hopefull they'll let us all in"

Penelope sighed a breath of relief "You're th FBI! We should have been able to all go in since the very beginning of this tragedy"

Her brother and parents chuckled "What?" she looked confused. Why were they laughing? She was serious "Nothing kitten, nothing" David kissed her cheek and then a little voice coming from behind distracted them "Where is Emily?" JJ was rubbing her eyes. "She's sleeping honey. You can see her later, when she wakes up" Erin walked to the little girl and picked her up, kissing her head "You're done sleeping?" she asked softly and JJ nodded, resting her head on her shoulder, her little nose brushing against Erin's neck "You want some breakfast?" she nodded again, her head still in the same spot.

Before she could say anything, Aaron offered to go to the cafeteria for some breakfast "I'll wake Spence and take him too. Let's go JJ" Aaron said but JJ didn't want to leave her mother's arms so Aaron offered to give her a piggy back ride. She beamed and immediately jumped on her brother's back.

"You go as well kitten" David looked down at Penelope who was ready to protest "But-"

"We have to talk with doctors and she's sleeping anyways. You need to eat breakfast, come on. Go" She nodded and both parents watched the four kids silently and sadly walk away, missing their sister and hoping everything would be fine in the end. Because without one of them, they wouldn't be a family anymore.

"Mr and Mr Rossi?" they turned around and a tall man was looking at them with a polite and comforting man. They shook his hand while he introduced himself as "Doctor Anderson, psychiatrist"

They nodded at him and followed him in an empty room where he wanted to talk to them privately. "I chatted a little bit with Emily" he said and they waited nervously for whatever was going to come next "And it looks to me that the last three months have been quite unlikely for her, am I right?"

Erin nodded and David answered "Yes. None of what happened lately is something she would have done usually"

"Uhm, we are going to run some tests to make sure that the diagnosis is correct but usually talking to the patient is the best way to understand what is wrong. We'll still make sure but I have reason to believe that your daughter suffers from a bipolar disorder"

"W-wha-" Erin's eyes widened and the words died in her throat. David sighed. He should have known. He could have seen it. He could have understood. He knew these things. He worked and recognised them all the time and yet, he couldn't see that his own daughter was suffering. Maybe because he was not home enough, or maybe because he didn't want to accept it. Maybe he chose not to see it.

"What do you mean, bipolar? She's- she's just- she's only sixteen" Erin stuttered. "Mrs. Rossi, Emily had been very honest and open about all that's happened and it's probably because she has realised that something was wrong as well. Maybe the car crash was a wake up call for her but she knows that what has been happening is not her. We're going to run more tests but-"

"But you're quite sure that's what it is" David finished for him "And you want us to be ready"

The doctor nodded "She can have a perfectly normal life, she'll need to follow a strict medicine schedule and seeing a therapist could help, so that she can process her feelings and make sure to learn how to control her impulses but believe me, she can have a good, happy life. Emily seems like a good girl with great aspirations and as long as she takes care of herself she can absolutely do whatever she wishes."

David and Erin nodded, trying to process whatever was going on right now. It was surreal. Never once in her life Erin had imagined to find herself in a situation like this. Just a couple of hours ago she was sure that life was getting better again and now, right now, she had to come to terms with the fact that life would never be the same again. For them. But especially for her little, sweet, girl.

"We'll run the tests and then it'll be your choice. In any case, I'm glad to help and I suggest you start as soon as possible. Medicines start working in time so the sooner the better"

"How do we tell her? _What_ do we tell her?" Erin asked. "You just be there for her, I'll do the talking" the doctor gave them a gentle smile and they nodded "If you'll excuse me" he exited the room, leaving Erin and David to themselves.

"How-" Erin couldn't understand what was going on and why this was happening and what it meant.

"Erin-"

"No I mean- why didn't we notice? We should have seen it"

David sighed "I don't know" he didn't understand it either.

* * *

They had expected Emily to be angry, upset. But when the doctor explained to her what was happening and why it was happening, Emily didn't say anything. She simply laid there and nodded. No words, no tears. Nothing. Silence.

"Emily, baby, are you okay?" Emily turned to the source of the voice and nodded slightly at her mother, who looked worried.  
"Yeah" she said in a small voice. The blonde mother leant on her husband while he held her tight.

"Where is everyone?" Emily asked, shocking them. They had just told her life changing news and she was asking about her siblings.

"Honey-" they were outside. With this new outcome they decided to hold them a little more since Emily had to go through other tests. And they were probably not only tired but also worried out of their minds, right now. They wanted to see their sister just as much as she wanted to see them.

"I want to see them. Why aren't they here?" The two parents looked at the doctor, in search of answers because of course couldn't decide.

"They're outside Emily. I promise-"

"Can I see them? Please?" she had tears in her eyes. The doctor sighed and then nodded "I'll go get them" he cast one last look at the parents and then exited the room to get the rest of the Rossi family.

"Emily, sweetie, talk to us"

"I just want to see them" she said. Erin and David dropped it.

"EMILY!" JJ and Spencer ran towards their sister "Hey bugs!" she exclaimed, beaming at them.  
"Careful, don't jump on her" Erin exclaimed before they could involuntarily harm her. They two kids looked at their mother for a second before calmly sitting at the feet of Emily's bed.

Penelope's eyes immediately filled with tears when she saw her sister all beaten up. Emily smiled at her, to comfort her "Hey, I'm fine. Don't cry" she whispered but still had tears in her eyes. Aaron stood back, studying the scene in front of him.  
Emily met his eyes fo a split second and then took them away. She couldn't look at him. Not right now. She was scared he would see all of her and right now she was ashamed of herself even if she had just learnt that what she did, she did because apparently she had no other choice.

"Emily are you hurt?" Spencer asked and Emily looked at him. She was smiling. The whole time, a smile was on her face and tears in her eyes. But her heart was filled with a love she had never felt before. And at the same time she was feeling small. Smaller than ever before in her life and like she needed them all. To hold her. To love her. No matter what.

"A little buddy" she chuckled at Spencer's confused look "What is it?" she asked, knowing he was thinking something and had questions about it.

"Why can't mommy fix it? Mommy always fixes everything" Erin made an effort to hold in the sob that desperately wanted to be let out because yeah, why couldn't she fix it? Why was her pain so much bigger than all of them that mommy couldn't fix it? _Why couldn't she fix it?_

"Who said mommy didn't fix it?" Emily smiled and Erin was surprised to hear those words. Tears pooled in her eyes.  
Spencer flashed a toothy grin and turned to look at his mommy before smiling at Emily once more. Emily then set her eyes on JJ "Look blondie" she said and nodded to her cast "A lot of space for you to color and do whatever you want" JJ smiled shily "It's okay, I don't have to color it. I don't want to hurt you"

"You won't! I promise. I want you to color it. It's ugly and boring like this. And maybe Penny can help you?" she looked at her other sister, trying to cheer her up. She knew her sister, she knew her well, and she knew that right now she was probably fighting herself to keep in the tears because she didn't want to scare their younger siblings. And Emily was the oldest and she needed to take care of all of them.

Penelope looked at Emily with teary eyes and before answering, she looked at her for what felt like way too little time. She looked into her brown eyes and read all her love and care. So she nodded and then slowly looked over at where JJ was sitting "I even have a few stickers and some glitters JJ, you can choose them and we can make Emily look super shiny and fabulous" The tears shone in Penelope's eyes before falling down. The girl quickly wiped them away and laughed at JJ's excitment. "Can we?!" her big glue eyes widened while looking at Emily who chuckled. She nodded and JJ cheered making everyone's laugh.

"I want to write on your cast too!" Spencer's little voice was heard. Erin leaned on David, who wrapped his arms around her and kissed her head. A smile on both of their faces while they looked at their children.

"Only if you promise something. All of you" Emily's voice turned serious and now it was her time to have tears to fight against.

"What?" he asked with the curiosity that only Spencer could have. Emily took a moment before answering and the tears she was fighting so hard to keep back became way too heavy for her so she freed them "You have to promise me" she mumbled and David and Erin frowned confused, because she looked fine just a few seconds ago "That you'll love me forever-" she stopped, trying to control the tears and not wanting to let them in the way of what she wanted to say but no one said anything, not even the little ones because it was claear that she wasn't done yet "No matter what" she said while everyone's eyes were set on her, including Aaron's tears filled ones "And that you'll forgive me if I yell at you because no matter what happens, _I_ will always love you. Okay? Do you promise?"

Spencer nodded, not understanding the depth of what was going on. JJ as well. Penelope was crying all over again but she as well couldn't understand what Emily was asking really meant. Erin was holding onto David, trying not to cry because what would her kids think? She had to be strong. Especially for Emily. David held his arms tight around her.

Emily smiled through the tears when she heard her siblings exclaim that "Of course we'll always love you!" and felt like a huge weight was lifted off her chest. She slowly looked up at the back of the room where Aaron was still standing on his own.  
He was different.  
He knew it wasn't only about wanting to feel the love after something scaring had happened to her.  
He knew it was more and deeper and he knew she needed them.

She met his hazel eyes while she bit her lip, scared of his reaction. Scared of what'd he say or think. They looked at each other for probably a minute or a little less and then Aaron chuckled.  
A small smile appearing on his face and his eyes lit up "Scoot over squirts" he walked in the room, picked up Spencer and sat in his place while he settled on his legs. Now that he was closer he smiled at her and held up his fist. Emily, with tears still brimming in her eyes, smiled at him and bumped her own fist with his.

"I need you to say it" she lowered her eyes, feeling shameful for asking him after he had promised her in his own way. But she needed to hear those words.

"I promise Em. Of course I promise" he said, serious and truthful. His eyes set on her. She looked up and nodded, thanking him.

"Alright" she said and tried her best to smile at all of them "Uhm, I'm a bit tired. Can we-" she didn't know how to say that she needed them to leave right now because she had a huge baggage to deal with. She didn't want' to hurt them "It's okay. We'll go" Aaron said, sensing what his sister wanted to say but didn't have the heart to. David took them outside and told Aaron to bring the kids home. Keeping them the whole day in the hospital would only make them restless and bored so it was better to take them home. Aaron nodded and before he could ask David promised him that he'd call and check in with updates about Emily. He nodded and took them all home.

In the meanwhile Erin had called doctor Anderson back in so that he could talk with Emily finally. She left and waited outside with David, giving them privacy so that Emily wouldn't feel ashamed and wouldn't need to worry about what she felt like she could say or not.  
They didn't know how much time he spent in there, probably a couple of hours, and couldn't hear a single word. Sometimes they'd hear a sob and they hearts would break into a million pieces. Other times they'd hear a laugh and they'd take a breath of relief. It was a rollercoaster of emotions for them, and they couldn't even imagine what it must be like for Emily.

They waited and waited. Focusing on how their lives would change from now on. They tried to think of what they needed to do, in order to help Emily and also the other kids understand what was going on. They tried to figure out how to face this and not let it destroy Emily. The doctor said that it developed quickly over a couple of months but that Emily was young and with the right cure and their support she'd be just fine. Of course she'd need to be monitored and followed but it didn't mean that her life would be destroyed. If she didn't let it, of course. It was important that Emily knew that she had to want it and fight for herself, against herself, in a sense. She needed to be strong and that's why they all did too. So that Emily could have to will to fight and to be strong enough to start this hard jorney.

That's why she asked to see her siblings before talking with the doctor once more. That's why she asked them to promise that they'd love her no matter what. That's why she asked Aaron to say out loud, even after having told her in his way. She needed their strenght and their support so that she could sail this boat.

She'll be fine, right?" asked Erin. David turned to her. He looked at her. Her blue eyes and hard look. Fingers enterweaved together under her chin while her elbows rested on her knees. Both rings on her finger. Always. Tiredness in her whole figure. David, sitting in the chair next to her, put a hand on her leg, leaned over and kissed her temple.

"I'm sure she will" he whispered.

Erin closed her eyes and prayed.

* * *

Hello guys!  
It's me, again. Okay so I wanted to answer a question I've been asked: No, this collection of OS is not Emily centered. This particular one, though, is. This was the third and last part. From now on, there will be of coruse stories about everyone else as well and in some cases maybe divided in parts like this one, I don't know yet.  
Also, Derek will be in the story, don't worry about it! I would never leave him out.

About the "dark" turn this story just took, I want to explain some things. First of all, all I know about bipolarism is from a few things I've read on internet and nothing more. I'm not a doctor or a med student, so some things can and _will_ be wrong. I don't know much about it but still decided to put it in the story because I kinda wanted to challenge myself as a writer, because writing about it would have needed more work and focusing. Also, this is part of lif, it happens and I kinda said in the description that they'd find bumps in their roads so let's look at it like a bump. I hope I won't offend anyone with my little knowledge or even with the choice I made. One last thing about it, the foundation of this story is love, fluff and humour (I know it doesn't look like it but yeah hahahah) so I wanted to say that this won't turn the story into a dark and twisted one. I focused on them knowing that she'll be alright and learning to live her life normally because her disorder will be addressed sometimes but not that much. It will be hinted here and there but Emily will have a normal teenager life. Ups and downs. The downs, of course, will touch the subject of bipolarism but it won't be _all_ about it.

Prompt are always welcomed. Let me know if there's something you want to read, I'll be happy to write about it.

With that being said, I'll leave you to it. I hoped you liked it. If you did, let me know.  
Bye everyone! See you soon!  
Thank you for the support you've been showing, I love you all xoxo


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